Any tennis moms have any insight?

[ByGrace3]

My ds is almost 14. He dreams of playing college tennis, I have no idea if this is a reality. When my girls were competitive gymnasts, the club determined what meets they would compete in, how many practice hours a week, etc. Tennis is such a different game, and I know I am not playing it well. I think we are about to start looking for a new coach and club . . . he will play high school starting next year and I need to decide if he will play at a public school or a local private school. How important is the high school team in regards to recruitment? Our current coach says tournament play is more important. What USTA Level should a kid be at in high school if he wants to play at the college level? (scope) He hasn't done a ton of tournament play as of yet but we are trying to step it up...how often does your competitive player compete? I know we need to step it up and I hope it isn't too late.

I would love to hear your experiences....

[madteaparty]

I’m listening in bc my DD9 loooves tennis. She would play everyday if she had the choice, which she doesn’t. I just don’t know how to get her to play as much as she needs to in order to be even tournament ready. And also most other kids at our suburban club aren’t great. Her private teacher says it’s pretty easy to make the high school team, you need to be ranked high via tournaments to be recruitable. 

[ByGrace3]

1 minute ago, madteaparty said:

I’m listening in bc my DD9 loooves tennis. She would play everyday if she had the choice, which she doesn’t. I just don’t know how to get her to play as much as she needs to in order to be even tournament ready. And also most other kids at our suburban club aren’t great. Her private teacher says it’s pretty easy to make the high school team, you need to be ranked high via tournaments to be recruitable. 

Within the next year or two I imagine my son will be highly seeded, perhaps even #1 on the high school team . . . but in tournament play, its a different animal. 

[mommyoffive]

Putting in that I have no idea on tennis.  But what division does your DS want to play in college.  I think it is very realistic to play college sports if you are not looking at division one.  I played division 3 soccer in college and I was ok at best.  I don't even remember people getting cut.  I think everyone got on the team. 

[Roadrunner]

Look at UTR ratings of kids playing for various teams. You will see that for places like Stanford, some of this kids have very high UTR rankings (11 at the least). Many have 13, a professional level.  But for a small college that’s not competitive, you don’t need that much. Look at actual players from a college you are interested in.

And start playing open tournaments. Then you can move on to National ones. 

Edited March 13, 2021 by Roadrunner

[Katy]

Listening too. One of mine is interested & I don’t know anything about it. 

[Lecka]

This is my understanding of my niece’s track career..... her freshman year and especially her sophomore year she was getting really good times.  Her sophomore she had times where “if she kept improving like she has been” she could look at scholarships for Division 1.

Then she just didn’t continue to get faster, like she would have needed to do to be looking at scholarships for Division 1.

By the time it was her Senior year, she could receive some kind of scholarship for Division 3, and probably be able to have some level of participation for Division 1 but not a high level of participation.  I think somewhere on the level of practicing with the team but not necessarily going to meets.  Maybe always competing to try to have a spot for a meet, but maybe not quite competitive enough for that.  
 

I would think the high school coach would at least be able to tell you what levels are competitive for college.  
 

I believe my niece went to state for traffic and was in the top 20 fastest times in the state all through 10th-12th grade.  She didn’t get fast enough, though, she would have had to be — I don’t even know, but just a little faster!

 

Anyway — she was realistic by the end of her Junior season (or maybe her Senior season?) that her times weren’t fast enough for her goal.  Then she decided she would like to attend a Division 1 school but not try out for the track time.  She did not want to make the time commitment it would require.  And she also decided she wanted to attend a larger school instead of a smaller school, which made her not want to go to a Division 3 school. 

I think she loved track, but was also happy to have more free time.  She has branched out to try different things.  She still likes to go to the gym.  She is playing some different for-fun sports things — some that are just like getting together on a Saturday morning with people.  

Her whole social life was involved with track in high school, and I think she has liked not having it be that way.  There are very, very intense people in track and I think she is glad to be around more relaxed people some of the time.  
 

Of her friends — one girl got a scholarship for division 1, and one boy went to a very competitive division 1 school with a dream of increasing his time while he was there.  He would be on the team with people who were extremely good and try to challenge himself and be part of the training.  From what I understand they were both just much more intense people than my niece, but they were her best friends in high school.  

[gstharr]

2 hours ago, ByGrace3 said:

. he will play high school starting next year and I need to decide if he will play at a public school or a local private school. How important is the high school team in regards to recruitment? Our current coach says tournament play is more important. What USTA Level should a kid be at in high school if he wants to play at the college level? (scope) He hasn't done a ton of tournament play as of yet but we are trying to step it up...how often does your competitive player compete? I know we need to step it up and I hope it isn't too late.

I would love to hear your experiences....

the 10th grader took group tennis and golf lessons starting at age 4, and then private lessons  from age 10. We dropped private tennis lessons last year, because, even though he was on the h.s team, he was not highly seeded on his team, and certainly was not going to play at any college level.  We still have private golf lessons with a pga tour level coach, and my kid has great game. However, he has played very few competitions. Our goal is use golf as an admission plus, and walk on as an academic scholarship.  So recruitment is not very important to us.  Tennis and golf require great tournament experience, and great time committment if the goal is to be recruited.  The high school kids we know who are hoping to be recruited for tennis practice 4-5 days per week, 3 hours per practice.  Then there is extra time for physical conditioning.  not to mention lots of two day tournaments.  With golf and tennis,  rankings start  pre-teen. Tennis far more so than golf.  Golf can be started in h.s. and still have a chance for a college/pro career.  I never heard of anyone, in the modern era,  starting tennis in high school and playing d1 or d2.   As to the lack of extensive tournaments, some h.s. schools' tennis and golf  programs are so strong that it is possible to be recurited from one  these schools with little outside competition.  My son's  school is not one of these types.  Anway, her is place to begin  ; https://www.ncsasports.org/mens-tennis/how-to-get-recruited

[Frances]

You might want to trying messaging MysteryJen if she doesn’t respond to this post. I believe two of her daughters got college swimming scholarships and her youngest son is a serious tennis player, maybe also aiming for a scholarship?

I’m blanking on her name right now, but I also remember a boardie who was a D3 tennis coach. I’ll see if I can find it if no one else remembers.

Edited March 14, 2021 by Frances

[rainbird2]

1 hour ago, gstharr said:

the 10th grader took group tennis and golf lessons starting at age 4, and then private lessons  from age 10. We dropped private tennis lessons last year, because, even though he was on the h.s team, he was not highly seeded on his team, and certainly was not going to play at any college level.  We still have private golf lessons with a pga tour level coach, and my kid has great game. However, he has played very few competitions. Our goal is use golf as an admission plus, and walk on as an academic scholarship.  So recruitment is not very important to us.  Tennis and golf require great tournament experience, and great time committment if the goal is to be recruited.  The high school kids we know who are hoping to be recruited for tennis practice 4-5 days per week, 3 hours per practice.  Then there is extra time for physical conditioning.  not to mention lots of two day tournaments.  With golf and tennis,  rankings start  pre-teen. Tennis far more so than golf.  Golf can be started in h.s. and still have a chance for a college/pro career.  I never heard of anyone, in the modern era,  starting tennis in high school and playing d1 or d2.   As to the lack of extensive tournaments, some h.s. schools' tennis and golf  programs are so strong that it is possible to be recurited from one  these schools with little outside competition.  My son's  school is not one of these types.  Anway, her is place to begin  ; https://www.ncsasports.org/mens-tennis/how-to-get-recruited

At our academy, this is the minimum, usually expected of the late elementary/middle school age kids.  The high school kids have 1 hour physical conditioning, 1 hour lesson (usually 4 lessons a week), 2 hours drills, 1 hour match play...that's 5 hours, and sometimes more.  They usually put in some serve time, too.  Then two day tournaments a couple times a month.  Kids at our academy are regularly recruited for D1 schools.

[Lori D.]

@Frances: I believe it is @Granny_Weatherwax (formerly "The Accidental Coach") who had a tennis playing high school student who went on to play tennis in college, and she is now (or was) active in helping other  high school students with the tennis and NCAA thing in her area.

So @ByGrace3-- you might post on the high school or college board about playing college tennis, or try sending a private message to @Granny_Weatherwax -- here is a thread started by her from a few years ago: "College athletics and your child".

Also, check out the big set of threads on what you need to do in high school to be eligible for NCAA Division I & II play (all pinned on PAGE 4 of the big pinned thread "College Motherlode", at the top of the WTM College Board).
________________________________

A few quick tips from our experience of both of our homeschooled DSs playing varsity tennis with the local public high school (although, our experience was from 2009-2012, so things may have changed since then).

1. You may or may not have choice of who you can play with:
One or both of the private or public high schools may not allow a homeschooler on the team. Here, the private middle school DID allow DS#2 to play on their team, but the private high school that was part of the same K-12 private school set-up did NOT allow homeschoolers to play. However, the public high school system here DOES allow homeschoolers to play on the high school team.

2. If playing for the public school, you will most likely be restricted to the public school for which you live in their area:
No selecting which team you want to play for. Just by luck, this worked out for us, because if we had lived a mile north, we would have been required to play with a different high school, and neither DS would have made it on that team -- which leads me to:

3. He will most likely have to try out to make the team:
For the public high schools in our state, homeschoolers try out right along with all the other students attending the high school for placement. Varsity was the top 6 players; junior varsity was the next 12 players. After that -- no more spots available. We live in the area where there weren't many students taking tennis lessons and playing club tennis, so DS#2 made varsity, and DS#1 was in spot 7, so technically junior varsity, but because 1 student on varsity was only playing singles, not doubles, DS#1 played varsity doubles. If we had lived 1 mile north, we would have been in the area of a high school where *everyone* was taking private lessons and playing club tennis -- their top 25 players (so all of their varsity and junior varsity) were ALL state-ranked players, and way above our DSs' in level. No way our DSs could have played if they had been in that school's area.

4. You'll mostly likely have to provide a transcript every 4 weeks during the season:
At least for our state, all students playing sports must maintain a minimum GPA and minimum # of credits, and it is checked every 4 weeks to make sure they are performing at minimum level and above to meet state high school sports requirements. So I had to create a "sports transcript" with the year divided into quarters, and mid-quarters, and list grades, credits, and cumulative GPA for even the "mid-quarter" listings.

5. Plan on a lighter academic load during the high school tennis season (about 12 weeks)
DSs had to show up for the Mon-Fri practices (about 2.5 hours), starting about 2pm at the high school, and then some away games were so far away, they had to be at the high school by about 12:30pm to be on the bus for a 2 hour ride to the school, play all afternoon/early evening, and then the 2 hour drive home again -- several of those away games they did not get back until between 10pm-midnight. So, not able to pop out of bed the next morning bright and early and make up the work. 😉 So, we planned on heavier academics in the off season, and went into the summers to finish credits. 

6. If planning on being recruited, plan on spending big $$ on lessons, club play, and driving/staying at motels for weekend tournaments.
DSs did NOT want to play tennis in college, and it was still a lot of time just to be competitive on the high school team, and some extra $$ for tennis lessons for a month in advance of the tennis season each year to get them back up to speed. But various friends we know who had kids in club sports for swimming, soccer, and softball spent a fortune on the lessons and club fees, and were driving up to 8 hours 1-way twice a month for weekend tournaments. It is a very all-consuming activity to shoot for Division I & II sports. As a side note -- if doing a lot of driving for tournaments, plan for materials that could be done in the car to complete credits...

7. College sports scholarships are often not that great
If you're planning on the tennis paying off in big scholarships...  Be aware that sports scholarships are typically not as big as you would think. There aren't that many full tuition sports scholarships out there. And by the time you calculate the total cost of attendance to what will likely have to be an out-of-state school, so extra tuition + room & board... The total sports award will likely reduce just the tuition portion of college costs by somewhere between 1/4 to 1/2. That still leaves anywhere between 1/2 to 3/4 of the tuition to pay -- PLUS room & board -- PLUS all other expenses....

8. Explore all the options of what "playing tennis in college" could look like
It might be more fun/less stressful for DS to play Division III tennis, similar to @mommyoffive's post above. (Being a "big fish in a little pond" means winning a lot of competitions. 😉 ) And while there are NO sports scholarships awarded for D3 level of play, often, colleges find other scholarships to give to students to help fill out their sports teams with good players. Another option might be to go to the college of choice and just play intramural sports. Or, even downshift another gear to just play for enjoyment and as a weekend athlete at a tennis club.

9. It's okay to change your mind, during high school, or even later on in college. Two stories:
First story: A co-worker of my DH has a daughter who loved softball, starting at age 8. It was her passion. The co-worker spent 10 years working hours a week with his DD to help her hone her skills, and the family spent tens of thousands of dollars on club sports, coaching, tournaments (+ related travel, accommodations, meals, equipment, etc.). By high school, she was on track for competing for scholarships and was being courted by colleges... And in her senior year, she realized she was just done. She had the skills, but no longer was interested in being on that high-intensity track that leaves you little time or resources to do anything else. She ended up enlisting in the military, and doing well.

Second story: My cousin landed a tennis scholarship to a college halfway across the country from her family. She went -- and hated it. She hated the school, and she hated the tennis program and coach at the college. For reasons I can't recall, she had to stick it out for 2 years there before she was able to drop the tennis and transfer back to a university in her home state, and was much happier. The first 2 years of her college experience were miserable, because it was all based around the sport of tennis, and when that went south, there was nothing else about that college that was a good fit. 


ETA
Also, here are a few websites you might find interesting as you and DS research:

Scholarship States website:
- Odds of a US High School Tennis Player Making a College Varsity Roster in 2020
- NCAA Men's Sports - Average Scholarship per Sport (for D1)

AthNet website: College Tennis Scholarships and Recruiting

Edited March 14, 2021 by Lori D.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

As a recent D3 tennis coach with a few years of recruiting experience, I can discuss this topic for hours.

Is playing college tennis a reality? Yes!! He may not be able to play D1 tennis or earn an athletic scholarship but he will be able to play college tennis if he so chooses. There are many schools with strong academic programs who struggle to fill teams; mainly because of the "D1 or bust" attitude. 

 How important is the high school team in regards to recruitment?

For D1 - very important. A top player for a team that isn't winning matches or placing well at state competition, won't get much notice (unless that player is a standout and also playing USTA tournaments). For D2- similar to D1. For high level D3s (which are the equivalent athletically of many D1s), team play will matter. For moderate to lower level D3s - the high school team doesn't matter as much.

Our current coach says tournament play is more important.

Tournament play is important because this is the only way players can earn their UTR (Universal Tennis Rating). There is a push to get high school results uploaded into UTR but it's slow going and will probably take a few more years before high school play has an impact on UTR.

UTR levels vary depending on the college's program. For instance, most D1 schools won't look at players with UTRS under 10 (and that's on the low end). Many top level D3s also only recruiting players with UTR 10s or higher. For instance, Washington & Lee ( a private LAC, D3) is ranked at the top of their conference and routinely places in NCAA national rankings has an average UTR over 10. Other schools, like Grinnell (also the top of their conference and has been to Nationals, has men with UTRs between 8-10. Other D3s, like Lawrence Uni, The Colorado College), will look at players with UTRs as low as 6. You can look up a school's UTR levels by creating an account at MyUTR.com and searching for the college's team.

Knowing a team's Power 6 (the top 6 players on the team) UTR level, will you give an idea of how strong the team is. UTRs range from 1 (never played) to 16+ (Federer). If a team's Power 6 is 70+ you know the top players have to have a UTR of 10 or above. If the Power 6 is 40, then playing with a UTR of 7 is possible.

What USTA Level should a kid be at in high school if he wants to play at the college level? Really shoot for 3.5 and above. USTA ratings are rarely used anymore; it's the UTR that carries weight. However, a USTA rating of 3.5 and higher will at least let potential coaches know that the athlete has a working knowledge of the game and potential on court.

how often does your competitive player compete?

The player should definitely be playing each year on a team. Playing tournaments throughout the summer is imperative to maintain and improve skills. At least 1 USTA tournament a month is what I would recommend. I would also suggest lessons or league play at least once a week during the off season. Check with your state's High School Sports Association for the regulations set for off season play.

I know we need to step it up and I hope it isn't too late.
It's not too late. There should be more tournaments back on the schedule now that COVID restrictions are being relaxed.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

After looking through some of the other replies, I can say that you might not want to rely on the knowledge of a high school coach unless that coach has a history of sending tennis players to play collegiate tennis. Many coaches believe that unless their players are winning at State, there is no chance to play collegiate tennis. That is simply not true.

Many D3s are looking for players who love tennis, are willing to work diligently on the court and in the classroom, are coachable, can be good teammates, and who are good people. 

I honestly believe that every tennis player who wants to play collegiate tennis can do so. It is just the process of finding a college or university with the academic strength, degree programs, and tennis program that matches the player's interest and abilities.

Now, in full disclosure, playing for a developing team is different than playing for a team with a winning record. Believe me, playing a losing season with a record of 0-10, is disheartening. This is where team culture and the love of the game are important. If the team can develop a strong culture and can find ways to deal with the losses while still enjoying themselves, then the athletes will continue to grow as people and players. 

[Granny_Weatherwax]

If your DS has an idea of what college or university he wants to attend and you've done your research into the Power 6 or UTR levels of the current players and it looks like your DS's ability might be a fit, contact the coach (the college athletic website will have a Recruit Me link as well as the coach's contact information) and express interest. The level and type of contact each coach can have with potential recruits is determined by Division (I, II, and III). 

There are college showcases throughout the summer and early fall where players can sign up(and pay a fee) in order to play in front of a wide range of college coaches. Some are open to all players, others are closed and by invitation only. These are good ways to get your athlete noticed but most of the top coaches go to see specific players (those with high UTRs). However, other coaches also attend and are looking at those lower UTR players.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

Regarding ranking on the high school tennis team -
that all depends on what level of college tennis you want to play. Being the #1 player on a weak team won't get that player noticed by D1s, D2s, or top D3s.  Now being ranked #1 and making it past the first round at State, that will attract a bit more attention but still not enough for the top schools. Those schools really are looking at USTA tournament play and UTR rating.

Being the last player on a strong team, one that posts multiple wins and has multiple players going to State, those players will get more notice. But, more than likely, those players will also be playing USTA tournaments and have some UTR ratings.

But, and I can't say this enough, there are colleges out there who need players and the coach will talk to any player who contacts them. I can list multiple D3 colleges who would love to have players of any ability and who want to play.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

The tennis recruiting sites can be a mixed blessing. I used them regularly to find players and to begin initial contact. What I (and other coaches) found to be problematic was that players would create dedicated email addresses for recruiting purposes but then never check those email accounts. This topic came up at every showcase I attended. Coaches from every level (DI, II, and III) expressed frustration with unanswered emails and outdated contact information. Another big issue was the athlete using a parent's email address for recruiting purposes. Make certain the athlete uses an email address that will be checked regularly (by the athlete).

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I will be happy to answer other questions (either her or privately).

 

What an exciting time for you and your DS. I hope he enjoys playing tennis for years to come.

[ByGrace3]

Wow! So helpful! Thank you so much @Granny_Weatherwax so much good information. I think my son has a lot of potential but we  haven't done a lot of tournaments until recently. He competed yesterday and has another one in a couple of weeks. We are shooting for once a month at this point (tournament play) and he will start high school tennis next school year for 9th grade. My ds currently plays about 4X/5X a week-- 1.5 hour group lesson on Monday night, 2 hour group lesson on Tuesday and Thursday and plays with a friend for 2 hours on Friday. We shoot for 2x/month privates when we can get them. He would play every day twice a day of he could. I have an eval set up with a different coach this weekend to see what he thinks -- I think we really need a switch ... he isn't being challenged where he is. I don't know anything about ratings but he really just started tournament play and it has taken him some time to get his groove with it...he suffers some with anxiety but the last couple of tournaments have seen great improvements in maturity and anxiety. Junior tournament play starts at level 8 I think? I don't know how those levels (with level 1 being the top) compare to other ratings. 

Neither ds or I have our hears set on a d1 school. Honestly a small private Christian D2 or D3 would be great . . . He does want to go into engineering so there is that as well. 

I feel like it is an important time to make a change for him and give him one last push for skill before high school starts. So, I still don't know what to do about high school. He can play for public schools but we don't have much of a choice in which school (district has a lottery basically you get what school has the next opening) or he can play with the private school that doesn't seem to have a great team...but they do have an established team and if I am understanding high school tennis correctly, he could advance individually if he won to states? 

[rainbird2]

On 3/13/2021 at 6:51 PM, Lori D. said:

@Frances: I believe it is @Granny_Weatherwax (formerly "The Accidental Coach") who had a tennis playing high school student who went on to play tennis in college, and she is now (or was) active in helping other  high school students with the tennis and NCAA thing in her area.

So @ByGrace3-- you might post on the high school or college board about playing college tennis, or try sending a private message to @Granny_Weatherwax -- here is a thread started by her from a few years ago: "College athletics and your child".

Also, check out the big set of threads on what you need to do in high school to be eligible for NCAA Division I & II play (all pinned on PAGE 4 of the big pinned thread "College Motherlode", at the top of the WTM College Board).
________________________________

A few quick tips from our experience of both of our homeschooled DSs playing varsity tennis with the local public high school (although, our experience was from 2009-2012, so things may have changed since then).

1. You may or may not have choice of who you can play with:
One or both of the private or public high schools may not allow a homeschooler on the team. Here, the private middle school DID allow DS#2 to play on their team, but the private high school that was part of the same K-12 private school set-up did NOT allow homeschoolers to play. However, the public high school system here DOES allow homeschoolers to play on the high school team.

2. If playing for the public school, you will most likely be restricted to the public school for which you live in their area:
No selecting which team you want to play for. Just by luck, this worked out for us, because if we had lived a mile north, we would have been required to play with a different high school, and neither DS would have made it on that team -- which leads me to:

3. He will most likely have to try out to make the team:
For the public high schools in our state, homeschoolers try out right along with all the other students attending the high school for placement. Varsity was the top 6 players; junior varsity was the next 12 players. After that -- no more spots available. We live in the area where there weren't many students taking tennis lessons and playing club tennis, so DS#2 made varsity, and DS#1 was in spot 7, so technically junior varsity, but because 1 student on varsity was only playing singles, not doubles, DS#1 played varsity doubles. If we had lived 1 mile north, we would have been in the area of a high school where *everyone* was taking private lessons and playing club tennis -- their top 25 players (so all of their varsity and junior varsity) were ALL state-ranked players, and way above our DSs' in level. No way our DSs could have played if they had been in that school's area.

4. You'll mostly likely have to provide a transcript every 4 weeks during the season:
At least for our state, all students playing sports must maintain a minimum GPA and minimum # of credits, and it is checked every 4 weeks to make sure they are performing at minimum level and above to meet state high school sports requirements. So I had to create a "sports transcript" with the year divided into quarters, and mid-quarters, and list grades, credits, and cumulative GPA for even the "mid-quarter" listings.

5. Plan on a lighter academic load during the high school tennis season (about 12 weeks)
DSs had to show up for the Mon-Fri practices (about 2.5 hours), starting about 2pm at the high school, and then some away games were so far away, they had to be at the high school by about 12:30pm to be on the bus for a 2 hour ride to the school, play all afternoon/early evening, and then the 2 hour drive home again -- several of those away games they did not get back until between 10pm-midnight. So, not able to pop out of bed the next morning bright and early and make up the work. 😉 So, we planned on heavier academics in the off season, and went into the summers to finish credits. 

6. If planning on being recruited, plan on spending big $$ on lessons, club play, and driving/staying at motels for weekend tournaments.
DSs did NOT want to play tennis in college, and it was still a lot of time just to be competitive on the high school team, and some extra $$ for tennis lessons for a month in advance of the tennis season each year to get them back up to speed. But various friends we know who had kids in club sports for swimming, soccer, and softball spent a fortune on the lessons and club fees, and were driving up to 8 hours 1-way twice a month for weekend tournaments. It is a very all-consuming activity to shoot for Division I & II sports. As a side note -- if doing a lot of driving for tournaments, plan for materials that could be done in the car to complete credits...

7. College sports scholarships are often not that great
If you're planning on the tennis paying off in big scholarships...  Be aware that sports scholarships are typically not as big as you would think. There aren't that many full tuition sports scholarships out there. And by the time you calculate the total cost of attendance to what will likely have to be an out-of-state school, so extra tuition + room & board... The total sports award will likely reduce just the tuition portion of college costs by somewhere between 1/4 to 1/2. That still leaves anywhere between 1/2 to 3/4 of the tuition to pay -- PLUS room & board -- PLUS all other expenses....

8. Explore all the options of what "playing tennis in college" could look like
It might be more fun/less stressful for DS to play Division III tennis, similar to @mommyoffive's post above. (Being a "big fish in a little pond" means winning a lot of competitions. 😉 ) And while there are NO sports scholarships awarded for D3 level of play, often, colleges find other scholarships to give to students to help fill out their sports teams with good players. Another option might be to go to the college of choice and just play intramural sports. Or, even downshift another gear to just play for enjoyment and as a weekend athlete at a tennis club.

9. It's okay to change your mind, during high school, or even later on in college. Two stories:
First story: A co-worker of my DH has a daughter who loved softball, starting at age 8. It was her passion. The co-worker spent 10 years working hours a week with his DD to help her hone her skills, and the family spent tens of thousands of dollars on club sports, coaching, tournaments (+ related travel, accommodations, meals, equipment, etc.). By high school, she was on track for competing for scholarships and was being courted by colleges... And in her senior year, she realized she was just done. She had the skills, but no longer was interested in being on that high-intensity track that leaves you little time or resources to do anything else. She ended up enlisting in the military, and doing well.

Second story: My cousin landed a tennis scholarship to a college halfway across the country from her family. She went -- and hated it. She hated the school, and she hated the tennis program and coach at the college. For reasons I can't recall, she had to stick it out for 2 years there before she was able to drop the tennis and transfer back to a university in her home state, and was much happier. The first 2 years of her college experience were miserable, because it was all based around the sport of tennis, and when that went south, there was nothing else about that college that was a good fit. 


ETA
Also, here are a few websites you might find interesting as you and DS research:

Scholarship States website:
- Odds of a US High School Tennis Player Making a College Varsity Roster in 2020
- NCAA Men's Sports - Average Scholarship per Sport (for D1)

AthNet website: College Tennis Scholarships and Recruiting

This is great information, lots to think about.  It's a fine balance with competitive sports.  After adding the costs of lessons, club fees, travel expenses, etc. over years, some of the kids at our academy could pay for tuition (and then some) at a good college. 

[Lori D.]

7 minutes ago, rainbird2 said:

This is great information, lots to think about...

You are most welcome! Glad something helped. 😄  Although, I can only provide what it looked like to play for a public high school team -- @Granny_Weatherwax has all the great info on tournaments, placing, and college recruiting! 😄 
 

7 minutes ago, rainbird2 said:

It's a fine balance with competitive sports.  After adding the costs of lessons, club fees, travel expenses, etc. over years, some of the kids at our academy could pay for tuition (and then some) at a good college. 

It is indeed... I've known several homeschoolers who were shooting for collegiate swim teams, and one private high school family with high end soccer club kids, and for all of them, sports practices and driving to tournaments completely consumed their high school years. It's certainly a trade off.

My DS#1 who went on to college ended up dropping tennis after high school, and thoroughly enjoyed playing Ultimate Frisbee in his college intramurals, so that can be a satisfying way of playing some sports in college, too...

 

Edited March 15, 2021 by Lori D.

[Ausmumof3]

1 hour ago, Granny_Weatherwax said:

I will be happy to answer other questions (either her or privately).

 

What an exciting time for you and your DS. I hope he enjoys playing tennis for years to come.

I just have to butt in to say I love your username!